Enter Into His Rest
In the beginning, God created everything you and I would ever need to complete our life here on this earth. Then He rested, because He was finished. There was only one problem. His son and daughter, Adam and Eve, messed up things so that He had to come to this earth, restore the original plan and this time complete it for all eternity. That is what Jesus meant when He was hanging on the cross and cried out: IT IS FINISHED!
For all eternity, what God has planned and provided for that plan for you has been finished. It is your job and my job to learn how to tap into that finished work through the power of the Holy Spirit and the information provided for us through the Word of God. As we find out what God has provided for us, we can rest in that finished work for us. It is a good life!
We have several scriptures to look at this day to understand the finished work and rest.
In Hebrews 4:1-11 we see the promise of rest that God has provided for us. We have to look at Hebrews 3:18,19 to see what causes us not to enter into that rest. It is unbelief. Faith is the open door into God’s rest. Faith in God’s finished work for us leads us into resting in Him. In fact, Hebrews 4:3 in the Amplified Bible states that …[His] works had been completed and prepared [and waiting for all who would believe] from the foundation of the world. In verse 10 we read that …he who has once entered [God’s] rest also has ceased from [the weariness and pain] of human labors, just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His own.
In Hebrews 4 we see that we are to enter into the rest of the Lord. Our own human efforts produce nothing but frustration and anxiety. When we truly trust God with our lives, we have sweatless victories, joyful lives and powerful testimonies to the Lord’s care for us.
In Romans 4 16-21 we read about Abraham’s faith in God and His finished work. It took Abraham a while to believe, just as it does you and me sometimes. We are in good company. There came a point in Abraham’s life where no unbelief caused him to waver concerning God’s promise to him. He was strong in faith, giving glory to God for God’s finished work for his life. He was fully persuaded that what God had promised for his life would be accomplished. What gave him such confidence—faith in the promise of God. We also must reach that point where we have such confidence in the promises of God, the Word of God. It takes a diligence of hearing God’s Word and spending time in His presence.
Our final scripture reference is Ephesians 2:10 in the Amplified Bible. This scripture tells us that God planned our good life ahead of time. What we have to do is to access it by faith, and then it becomes a reality in our lives.
Ephesians 2:10, Amplified Bible
For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
Our Heavenly Father has planned a wonderful life for each of us. What we must do is believe that statement and act on it. Every day, we need to affirm these scriptures in our lives, regardless of what we are facing, in the good times and in the bad times. We are to stay consistently the same, when everything is going well, when our flesh is giving us “fits,” or when the enemy seems to have gotten a foothold in our lives. We are not to look at the circumstances. We are to look with a steadfast gaze at God and His Word. He has only good things for us.
For all eternity, what God has planned and provided for that plan for you has been finished. It is your job and my job to learn how to tap into that finished work through the power of the Holy Spirit and the information provided for us through the Word of God. As we find out what God has provided for us, we can rest in that finished work for us. It is a good life!
We have several scriptures to look at this day to understand the finished work and rest.
In Hebrews 4:1-11 we see the promise of rest that God has provided for us. We have to look at Hebrews 3:18,19 to see what causes us not to enter into that rest. It is unbelief. Faith is the open door into God’s rest. Faith in God’s finished work for us leads us into resting in Him. In fact, Hebrews 4:3 in the Amplified Bible states that …[His] works had been completed and prepared [and waiting for all who would believe] from the foundation of the world. In verse 10 we read that …he who has once entered [God’s] rest also has ceased from [the weariness and pain] of human labors, just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His own.
In Hebrews 4 we see that we are to enter into the rest of the Lord. Our own human efforts produce nothing but frustration and anxiety. When we truly trust God with our lives, we have sweatless victories, joyful lives and powerful testimonies to the Lord’s care for us.
In Romans 4 16-21 we read about Abraham’s faith in God and His finished work. It took Abraham a while to believe, just as it does you and me sometimes. We are in good company. There came a point in Abraham’s life where no unbelief caused him to waver concerning God’s promise to him. He was strong in faith, giving glory to God for God’s finished work for his life. He was fully persuaded that what God had promised for his life would be accomplished. What gave him such confidence—faith in the promise of God. We also must reach that point where we have such confidence in the promises of God, the Word of God. It takes a diligence of hearing God’s Word and spending time in His presence.
Our final scripture reference is Ephesians 2:10 in the Amplified Bible. This scripture tells us that God planned our good life ahead of time. What we have to do is to access it by faith, and then it becomes a reality in our lives.
Ephesians 2:10, Amplified Bible
For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
Our Heavenly Father has planned a wonderful life for each of us. What we must do is believe that statement and act on it. Every day, we need to affirm these scriptures in our lives, regardless of what we are facing, in the good times and in the bad times. We are to stay consistently the same, when everything is going well, when our flesh is giving us “fits,” or when the enemy seems to have gotten a foothold in our lives. We are not to look at the circumstances. We are to look with a steadfast gaze at God and His Word. He has only good things for us.
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 9:47 AM
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